BOSTON — A former state employee and a federal inmate at FMC [Federal Medical Center] Devens have been charged in connection with the alleged distribution and possession of K2-laced paper inside the federal medical prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Tasha Hammock, 43, of Bridgewater, a former employee with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, has been charged with providing contraband to a prison inmate. Raymond Gaines, 45, an inmate at FMC Devens, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing contraband. Both were originally charged by criminal complaint in March 2025.
Gaines, who had been sentenced to more than seven years in prison in 2022 for cocaine distribution and firearm possession, received an Executive Grant of Clemency on Jan. 17, 2025, reducing his sentence to five years. Gaines is alleged to be an associate of the Orchard Park Trailblazers, a Boston-based street gang.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts
Federal prosecutors allege that on Aug. 18, 2024, Hammock visited Gaines at FMC Devens and secretly passed him K2-laced papers, which he pocketed during the visit. At the time, Hammock was still employed by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Investigators also allege Hammock previously received synthetic cannabinoids at her home for the purpose of smuggling the drug into the facility and handled money tied to the distribution of K2 to Gaines in FMC Devens.
Court records state that in a separate 2023 incident, an inmate used a smuggled cellphone to coordinate the delivery of K2 to Hammock’s Bridgewater address and arrange for its delivery to the prison. The inmate reportedly referred to Hammock as his “co” in text exchanges with an outside contact.
“K2 presents a health problem at FMC Devens, where inmates have become sick from smoking paper believed to contain K2, as well as prison staff who have been exposed to the secondary smoke,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement.
If convicted, both charges—providing and receiving contraband in a federal prison—carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The charges were announced Monday, July 14, 2025, by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks, and DOJ-OIG Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Regional Office, Ryan Geach. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office.
